Revenants...

[Mother Askani]

​

Yutan System
Yutan
Jedi Temple Ruins


"Explain to me...why I have allowed you to roam this galaxy thus far?" As her lips parted, a very monotone yet exotic speech was released as she spoke words that she meant. "You..." her voice simmered out, "You...have cursed me." the last of her words shook as she spoke them. It struck a nerve to even say them.

She stood amongst the ruins of what use to be the Yutan Jedi Temple. She hadn't known it have been razed but did she care enough to find such information? Not at all. She failed in her own personal mission which was driven by bitterness and jealousy...but better yet the one life she craved so much to claim had eluded her just as she eluded him when she wanted to escape his reach.

Some might say that briefly she loved Sith Lord...he gave her life again, encrypted her mind with sorcery, and held her close as his hand, perhaps that love was an illusion he planted himself. But for her, it was the distraction he provided against her real issues, though it was a twisted infatuation; she hated him just as much. He was the very reason she was even here and thus cursed her with a life that played in a continuous loop.

She inhaled, what gust of wind bounced through the crumbling walls of the temple had struck her and forced her robes to hug her body. She exhaled, taking in the environment around her. Her obsidian eyes lowered and shut themselves away, "It has been my wish to end you...to at least get close enough for the attempt. So...I have hunted you. How Ironic to find you in a Jedi Temple..."

A silver, cylindrical instrument sprouted from her sleeve. They'd both know what it was, then her red hand emerged along with it. A tight grip, which was followed by the tensing up of her shoulders as she glared at the revenant before her...

"You will fight me...I will avenge Iella."

Her breathing had sped up, obvious irritation was visible on her face.

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Yutan
Ruined Jedi Temple

Emptiness greeted him.

Silence beckoned him.

The Jedi Temple of Yutan had long been abandoned after its destruction at the hands of the Sith many, many months ago. The temple's sloping roof had been blown apart by artillery, and many of its levels had collapsed into one another to form a great gaping chasm amidst the skeleton of its dilapidated outer walls. Nature had already begun to reclaim the stone, vines hung from nearly every wall as weeds sprouted from cracked marble. The bones of the slain defenders lay where they had fallen, their carbon-scorched bones concealed by collapsed armor and burnt tunic.

The Dark Side hung heavy in the air, saturated by the atrocities committed against the temple and its inhabitants by the voracious Sith as they swept over like a tide of locusts. It whispered to him with echoes of that far off struggle, faint screams of pain and roars of triumph permeating the otherwise still air.

And by his very presence all sound had ceased. The birds had stopped chirping and all other animals had fled the area. There was only him and the darkness.

But he wasn't along for long.

He'd sensed her long before she revealed herself, her anger slicing through the shadows like the blade of a lightsaber through a durasteel door; white-hot and piercing. It was aimed at him, naturally, and he knew full well the reason he had provoked [member="Sochi Ru"]'s ire. Yet when she confronted him, he said nothing. His back was turned to her, his shoulders lax, and his posture loose and casual as if he wasn't in the presence of someone who wished him dead.

But her last words coaxed a mocking chuckle from him, inviting him to turn and face his aggressor. His form was cloaked in the black robes of his order with a cuirass of ornate gold and black armor covered his chest, and two curved lightsabers hung at his side. His crossed his arms arrogantly, and turned his nose up in a sneer.

"You will avenge nothing, Sochi. Iella was weak and her body has long since been picked clean by maggots. If you wish to join her then I will oblige you without complaint, but don't expect to achieve anything of note here among the Jedi's ruin."

His arms fell to his side and with a twirl of his fingers his lightsabers flung into his open palms, twin blades of crimson igniting with a snap-hiss.

He adopted a battle stance, and bade her to strike.

 

[Mother Askani]

Snap-hiss

The Togruta raised her head, and then her eyes suddenly shot open. In the reflection of her obsidian pupils was the crimson fire of his blades. Gripping her hilt she released it fully from the length of her sleeve and took a few steps closer and up a few ruined steps she came to be on even ground with him. A brief moment of silence and she said nothing..."Weak..." her lips parted to release one word.

"Weakness?...what warrior fears death, that they must cheat it?" She said sarcastically. "Seems you were no better than she...I will see to it that maggots feast upon you for thee final time."

She released a breath, and a quick finger over the activation button allowed her violet blade to spring to life. Shifting her body, she brought her arms up so that her left hand and blade were facing him, they were parallel to one another.

Perhaps she was wrong to be driven by aggression, but this was one that was inevitable. Her nostrils flared and a snarl appeared upon her face. While she was never an initiator, she thought this was a different situation than most. Kaine was not an opponent to be taken lightly...he was one of the most feared of Sith Lords.

Under her breath, "I hate you." She lunged forward and fell into a running stance, she was already naturally fast but boosted by the Force allowed her to close in sooner than many others. A fluid, circular motion of her wrist allowed her to manipulate her blade to the point where it appeared to be swung from the ground below and upward. As sparks flew from the ground and into the air between them, somewhere mid-way the weapon shifted trajectory as she pivoted in her stance; it was a feint. She spun her body around swiftly, bringing with her momentum and the purple fire of her blade with the intent of slicing straight through his midsection.

Though that wouldn't be enough.

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

He held his ground, letting [member="Sochi Ru"] be the one that came to him.

She went for the feint, Kaine blocked for it regardless. She twirled and came at from a different angle but his other blade was there to impede its progress. He seemed to goad her into keeping on the offensive, never once throwing himself into a direct counterattack. He would give up ground to her, backpedaling away with ease and using both of his blades to defend himself from her attacks. He said nothing, gave no indication as to why he was letting her drive him back so ferociously except letting the faint visage of a coy smirk grace his lips.

Then, in an instant, his face hardened and he leapt back to land atop one of the walls that had not yet fully collapsed with the rest of the structure. The stones buckled under his weight, but he only held that perch for half of a moment before he jumped high into the air and came down on level ground with a thunderous boom that exuded a shockwave of tremendous Force energy to permeate the crumbling structure and cause it to lose what little structural integrity it still possessed.

And like that he was upon her, the gale of the Dark Side billowing out to become a hurricane of darkness as he whirled both lightsabers in perfect unison to strike at Sochi's arms and legs from various, often parallel, angles.

 

[Mother Askani]

In her irritation she pressed the offensive, with caution lingering in the back of her head. She swung her blade threw the air, feeling the air push back against her hand as she sliced through nothing; he stepped backwards. Her nostrils flared once again, and her lips pressed together to show her frustration. She caught the smirk...then she realized.

When true masters battle, they must disguise their intent until their opponent has too little time to react. Sochi knew this...as cunning and perceptive as she was, she employed this often. While her offense and his backpedalling may have inspired confidence in some...she knew it would only work against her. There would be no more spoon-feeding, especially with not so much to show for it; the darkside feeds on negative emotions...and he was waiting for her to mess up.

So she would calm herself...An inhale and exhale.

Instantly, he launched himself into the air and her head followed his motions. Feeling the build up of energy, she could only watch as it was released and spread throughout the vicinity. She tucked her face into her arm and with her left she erected a last minute barrier to catch the kinetic force. It would shatter and the energy would cause her feet to slide along the ground backwards but she could recover from that. When the dust cleared she caught his presence...her sphere sense perception had already locked on to him thus allowing her to react at the same speed.

A swift and subtle bend of her waist as she pushed it forward would allow her to bend backwards. Gripping her hilt with two hands, she held it parallel with her body as she watched the twin crimson blades pass over her. Pushing backwards, she came back up and widened her stance. If he expected a stoic, bulwark of defense then he'd be mistaken. She matched him with the almost gentle give of graceful parries and elegant spins. But an defense like this would not see her last indefinitely...

At some point they'd locked blades, and before she could second guess her actions she inclined her saber a few degrees downward, where her block would shift into a leading parry as she caught his incoming attack. She pushed to hold his twin blades down and force his blades a few degrees off its intended mark.

The next step would be a race for time, if he would manage to overpower her before she went for the speedy attack.

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Sparks of purple and red scattered across the cracked stone, light and darkness colliding with momentous upheaval that carved great fissures in the world around them. Both fought with some modicum of fury, but where [member="Sochi Ru"]'s fire burned with vindication for the atrocities inflicted upon herself and others, Kaine was a fathomless abyss of seething hatred that lashed out against all creation. He was rage tightly bound in an artificial construct of flesh and blood, utter loathing and contempt for everything Sochi and the Jedi stood for writhed beneath scarred tissue.

And he fought like a beast.

His strikes were not just hard and heavy, they were quick as well. Despite his rippling muscle and imposing stature he commanded great swiftness when necessary, and in close quarters he was a master of the blade. With every blow that did not sunder flesh his ire grew, but he did not give himself fully to the blood haze. He was not a brute, a berserker who gave let himself become subservient to his every whim. He was a Lord of the Sith, and he was the Dark Side of the Force made manifest.

Yet he found himself sparring quite equally with this Jedi, at least for now. She was good, yes, but Kaine regarded her as a fool blinded by the causes of corpses. They locked blades, and their forms were bathed in the energy generated from their rivaling sabers. His face loomed before her, a contemptuous sneer splitting his features. "Do not forget, Sochi, but that body you wear was made by my hand. I own you. Every scrap of sumptuous flesh is my property, and I will reclaim it all!"

He broke the saber lock with a great heave, a scrap of his cloak falling victim to Sochi's blade as he spun backwards to create distance. Power vibrated through his body, exuding from his core and flowing through both of his arms to physically manifest as a rushing wave of telekinesis energy to flatten everything before him.

 

[Mother Askani]

As she struggled to hold his blades in place she looked upon him as he spoke, "For once my lord Kaine...you do not lie" She pushed down again on the hilt to put more weight behind it. It was only a matter of seconds but it seemed to have gone on far longer.

A alluring tone amplified her exotic speech, there was even a smirk as he the blades beneath them reflected in her eyes. "This body belongs to you...come and claim it." she spoke seductively, then her demeanor changed one again. With a stiff and expressionless face her lips parted again, "Because until you reclaim it...I will only use it as one would poison."

Her wrist went stiff as she was about to go for the swift strike, but he disengaged and there was no momentum for her anymore. Stumbling forward a bit, her head shot up and suddenly she was swept from her feet and thrown back with tremendous force. Courtesy of the Sith Lord, she was flung via the force, her robes rippling in the wind as she was thrown about.

A grunt could be heard as she was hit. Another would escape her when she collided with the ground some feet away. It was as if the wind was completely knocked from her. Pain coursed through her body as she pushed herself up, had she not been attuned to the Force she would have likely been flattened along with everything else in his wake. She fought through the obvious pain for the moment...as there was far worse he could do to her, but she noticed the significant pain in her wrist that had just revealed itself. It obviously had come from blocking his attacks...

Very fast paced breathing, she shut her eyes and took a deep breath as she opened herself up to the Force. She drew it in, very close, almost as if she put on a cloak. She would smooth the edges and then release her grip upon it as the connection become completely familiar. The current of power would flow around her in a rippling wave. It was a technique that allowed her to channel said energy more efficiently. Then her eyes opened, and she turned her head so that she could see him from the corner of her eye...her spatial awareness would compensate elsewhere.

She had yet to move since rising from her fall. Was it caution that kept her blade back?

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Your body will betray you."

He slid his thumbs along the hilt of his lightsabers, and the curved quillons disengaged from their resting position to extend from the hilt's pommel. With a quick connection and twist, the two lightsabers locked themselves together into one singular weapon. The Sith Lord twirled his newly constructed saberstaff around in his hands, the awkward style of the conjoined hilts forcing him to adopt a bizarre and exotic stance when holding and using the weapon, one that he had trained extensively to master.

"Every fiber of your being is artificial, to the hands that hold your weapon to the vocal cords that give you a voice. My mistake was only putting restrictions upon your mind when I brought you back from the dead, I'll make sure to strip your soul of its independence after I separate it from my creation."

He anchored himself and wound back his right arm and with a tremendous heave he flung his saberstaff through the air towards Sochi. It spun horizontally end over end like a reaping scythe through a field of wheat, its trajectory aimed right for the core of her body. With his hands free the Sith Lord reached down in an attempt to seize Sochi's body with a telekinetic grip and pull her towards the blade that hurtled towards her.

[member="Sochi Ru"]​

 

[Mother Askani]

It took a moment for her to build up more energy, and solidify her connection to provide a modest boost to her force reservoir. She didn't reach the level she would have liked, but adversity was something she had grown accustomed to. Her senses blew up, and she looked up to see him launching his weapon towards her with great force and speed. While she watched the weapon cut through the air, it became blurry as the actions in the background came into focus for her. Her eyes came to a quick squint, while her mind went into overdrive to match the Sith Lords actions.

With speed, and precision she pulled back with her right hand and pushed her left forward as she went to imbalance her opponent via a slick and cunning manipulation of the Force. She attempted to cancel out his potential grip and worry about his weapon afterwards. Quickly shifting her feet she stretched out her body, as she sidesteps, turning her head as the blade passed pass her. Barely dodging, her face lit up in red. It the weapons last cycle one of the blades had cut through part of her robes, while its tip had sliced the surface level of her thigh; a shallow gash.

The Togruta would bite down on her bottom lip in pain as the wound opened and burned as it was cauterized. She limped a few steps in the other direction as she tried to regain her own balance. Her free hand clung to one of the pillars, while her breathing sped up. Fighting through the pain, she forced the weight back down on her leg.

"Well, my lord...how does it feel to have your creation turn against you?" a smirk formed, "To make an attempt on your life..."

A grunt would be heard as she ignited her purple blade and swung it with power and momentum to slice the slice a already worn pillar down, hitting it in a place that would see it fall towards the Sith Lord. It was likely that he could handle such a projectile, she didn't doubt that. But concentrating herself, she lunged forward in a supernatural burst of speed that would aid her in pushing off the ground and launching herself into the air. With a graceful flip, she landed on the falling pillar in a crouched position ready to engage her opponent herself once as soon as the gap had been closed.

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

He held his ground, his feet digging into the weathered stone as he relented on his grip. There was some victory, however; as the stench of burning flesh stained the air and wafted into his nostrils. It was a superficial cut, but one that could be exploited overtime. A few moments later his blade would return to him and left deftly in his outstretched palm.

"A mistake I will not be making with your replacement."

He sought to advance, but Sochi was faster than him. Her blade sliced through the air to sever a nearby pillar at its base, and as its foundations were already in shambles it took little effort for it to tilt in his direction and come down on him with tremendous force. He could easily dance out of the way, but he hungered for a challenge. He reached out with his right hand, saber in his left, and actually caught the pillar as it fell. His fingers dug deep into the stone, and the sheer weight of the column forced him to one knee. He estimated it had to have weighed almost as much as he did, if not even more, but his strength was supplemented by the Dark Side of the Force.

Muscles bulging with exertion, he watched as Sochi nimbly flipped through the air to land on the pillar. He growled with fury and swung his blade up and through the pillar's shaft, again severing it and half. He pushed up, the Force exploding from his palm to send both pieces of the pillar flying through the air in opposite directions and showering both combatants in dust and debris. He lashed out at Sochi with his blade in an attempt to cut Sochi to ribbons shortly thereafter, his strikes powerful and precise.

[member="Sochi Ru"]​

 

[Mother Askani]

His comment had gotten to her, so much so that you could see the initial reaction in her face, but she knew not to feed him more power over her. She needed a clear head to survive this encounter...one wrong mistake and he'd have her head, thus was the power he commanded.

"Fool!"

She backpedaled backwards as the weight in the stone pillar shifted, catching herself she noticed that he'd caught it with his bare hand. Deciding not to second guess herself she continued to make her way towards it tip, but somewhere in the middle her progress was impeded by the destructive power of the Sith Lord. Before her last step, his crimson blade had forged it way through and sliced through its center.

When both pieces fell in opposite directions, she stumbled backwards as the back piece was dragged downward by gravity. Planting her feet, she balanced herself before jumping free and landing as the dust and debris fell around her. Feeling his presence her head immediately shot up and saw his weapon reaching out for her flesh. The first clash she could dodge, barely, as she moved underneath.

3...6 intense strikes, hammer blows reigned upon her. Each would drive her backwards as she attempted to hold her own throughout the onslaught. With each, her wrist would explode in pain as she was barely able to generate the kinetic force strong enough to match his own. 9...the last would send her flying backwards as she landed gracefully on her feet, a groan could be heard after the clash. She stood there looking upon him in his darkness while her breathing sped up, and her panting grew. She looked over at her right hand as it shook on its own. The next, and last of his strikes would force her down as she attempted to hold him back. Their blades interlocked, and suddenly her leg gave as she tried to bulwark him. Falling to one knee she held her blade still while struggling to match his intensity.

Low grunts and groans would be heard, as a shower of sparks flew between their faces. Looking over she reached out with her free hand where she telekinetically gripped large chunks of stone and pulled them with strength and speed towards her intended target; Kaine. Such wouldn't dare be enough to stop him...but it could suffice for her to break the lock and jump back. When she did, she pushed off the ground with her foot just as the debris would collide with him. Just then, as she jumped backwards she reached out with the force again and gripped the bottom of his robes from between his legs, pulling it from underneath, and with her with tremendous force as she moved back.

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

He was relentless and as ferocious as a beast, each blow brought down with great strength to batter against Sochi's own. He knew she could not weather his assault for long, his physical strength was something she could not hope to overcome on her lonesome. They locked blades with a tumultuous crash, the sheer power behind his blade driving Sochi down to one knee.

"You can't hope to defeat me, Sochi. Iella wasn't strong enough, and you won't be either."

The Force shimmered with warning, enticing Kaine to swivel his head to the side right as debris from the ruin came hurtling towards him at breakneck speed. He twisted both ends of his weapon to disconnect the saberstaff back into two individual lightsabers. Sochi broke the lock and retreated back just as he turned to slice through the first projectile while the second collided squarely with his shoulder-guard, staggering him momentarily. This, coupled with Sochi's targeting of his legs with the Force, caused the Sith Lord to stumble and fall, but he managed to catch himself from fully collapsing by bracing himself with his knee and thrusting his hand with the lightsaber still clutched in his fingers into the ground.

In retaliation he lashed out with a wave of telekinetic energy to disrupt Sochi's concentration so he could gather himself and re-engage with two sabers again instead of one like before.

[member="Sochi Ru"]​

 

[Mother Askani]

(Your making this break up hard)

He fell down, tugged by his robes being tangled around his legs. She was going to go for her mark...She jumped back to only lunged herself forward as her blade became one with her arm, the tip being the end of her reach. With speed and precision she jabbed the blade forward towards the left side of his head with the attempt of ending it...

However, those plans were thwarted because his answer to her actions was the Force. Pushed back, the wave cut through the vicinity and she was caught in its wake. Trying to fight through it, she failed as she stumbled backward and tripped over her own foot before then being tossed backwards and across the stone tiles that made up the floor.

She exited the air, rolling after she made impact. She heard the impact of his boots vibrating through her stomach as she laid there pushing herself up. Her montrals had alerted her to the danger, going off like an alarm every second she wasted not acting. It irritated her that she could not best him, though she kept coming close. They both knew she couldn't bulwark him, so that was likely his strategy.

She jumped to her feet, and with a deep breath she jammed her lightsaber into the ground beneath, having been infusing it with the force over time. Tremor would erupt as the ruins shook beneath them, even causing dust and rubble to fall from above. It was an attempt to imbalance him so that she could maneuver herself into his guard with her speed and balance.

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The ground shook with magnificent force, forcing the Sith Lord to momentarily abandon his renewed assault on Sochi so that he could continuously anchor and balance himself as the earth heaved beneath him. The fluctuations of their power had brought what was left of the Jedi temple crashing down around them, great chunks of stone and metal eroding away as more and more levels were swallowed up by the great gorge that had been rent through the temple's center.

Fissures opened up in the crumbling ground all around them with a large section of the floor they had been fighting on completely breaking away and fallen down into the abyss. Nearby walls toppled and fell to create great piles of loose stone and debris. Carnifex reached out after most of the tumultuous upheaval had subsided to grasp several of these large stone bricks with the Force, and hurl them at breakneck speed towards Sochi Ru as she simultaneously recovered.

[member="Sochi Ru"]​